Stupid measuring stick...

The Montreal Canadiens sounded a similar cry to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, New York Rangers, Anaheim Ducks, San Jose Sharks, and Pittsburgh Penguins in stating that the Red Wings served as a "measuring stick" for their franchise's progress. The Habs then went about handing the Red Wings their sixth loss in seven, "Let's see how the Wings measure up against the NHL's best teams" and/or, "Match-up against a historic rival" games, as the Windsor Star's Bob Duff notes:

November 27, Windsor Star: Back in the days when current general manager Bob Gainey and coach Guy Carbonneau wore the tri-colour sweaters, it used to be that trips to Montreal to face the mighty Canadiens were the ultimate measuring stick to determine whether a team was ready for prime time. To the young members of today's Canadiens roster, they figure they passed the litmus test Wednesday when they downed the Detroit Red Wings 3-1 at Joe Louis Arena.

"We got really excited before this game," Montreal left-winger and alternate captain Chris Higgins said. "How we viewed this game was as a big challenge for us. Obviously, they're the Stanley Cup champions, so we wanted to make sure the effort was there."

Montreal goaltender Carey Price, who blocked 32 shots and earned the game's first-star honour, took an entirely different point of view to the ice. "I don't look at stats," Price said. "I knew they had a good offensive team, but a lot of teams do in the new NHL. Lots of players are getting lots of points now. I knew that it wasn't going to fall squarely on my shoulders, it was going to take a good group effort."

One of the players who stepped up against Detroit in a previous "measuring stick" game caught the eye his former teammate as well:

Detroit forward Marian Hossa is a huge fan of Jordan Staal, his former Pittsburgh Penguins teammate who has been on fire of late, with five goals and seven points in his last six games.

"He has a big physique," Hossa said. "He can take the puck to the net, plays well defensively and is one heck of a player."

I get snippy about "on national TV in the U.S./Canada" games, and the Wings' games against Toronto, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, Calgary, Canadiens, and their 4-3 OT loss to Vancouver on October 16th gave the Wings a chance to strut their stuff in front of a national/international audience. They beat the Flames...and, otherwise, the Wings have looked very beatable when the hockey world's eyes have been fixed upon them. That's the one thing that really ticks me off about the season thus far--when the measuring stick comes out for the Wings, or the TV pressure's on, the Wings don't measure up, but they've played fantastic hockey in the vast majority of their "other" games.